The Cry of the War Drum
by Mizuki99
Summary: In times of war, information was precious. When an old informant shows up in what remains of the Konohagakure no Sato after Pein's invasion with information that is crucial in these troubled times, Naruto gives her a rather cold welcoming. Why? What happened between the two of them and how will the past influence the future? Mature-but-hopefully-not-too-mature!SealMaster!Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note:** _I know I shouldn't be starting another project, what with graduation coming in June, my missing assignments piling up like garbage at the local land-fill and my already started projects being neglected _but_ I have been up all night because of this effer. This takes place roughly three weeks after the invasion but about four days before those Kumo nin get to the village.

I will place flashbacks strategically throughout this story (as I'm half certain it's going to reach up to thirty or more chapters, not including interludes) and try to cover all angles (a challenge for Naruto fics)

And look! It's _het_! I've only ever really written for yaoi couples before... I'll have to remember to be extraaaaa careful not to type "his" instead of "hers" or "he" instead of "she".

Okay, so... just assume that Hinata got more screen time in this than she did in the original and try not to oust Sasuke completely. Keep an open mind while reading this and please... no flames? This is my first Naruto fic since those disastrous attempts almost four years ago. I will try my best to keep the characters in character (save for Naruto because OOCness in his case is a given) but if I don't, pointers are well appreciated.

**_Pairings:_**NaruHina, SasuSaku, LeeTen, ShikaTema, SaiIno, KibaKarin (crack?) and possibly a few more... be sure to add a pairing in a review if you can think of any you may or may not want to see but since het romance isn't really my strong point, I don't promise direct pairings.

* * *

Naruto had asked Hinata to talk, pointedly not looking at her and scratching the back of his neck in a gesture that she'd come to associate with nervousness. The doctors had cleared her for duty a few hours previous and she could honestly say she was ready to go. Kiba growled at him threateningly but he made it a point to ignore him which only riled the Inuzuka up. A whop to the head courtesy of Hana made him stop.

Hinata agreed, allowing him to gently guide her by the hand into a clearing that wasn't far from where Lee and Chouji were wrestling playfully with the watchful eyes of some of the more familiar faces—people like the parents and siblings of the Rookie Nine, the Jounin that assisted in their training as well as their respective sensei and a few Chuunin here and there. There was a break in business and they were taking full advantage of it.

Hinata can feel her heart skipping several beats and wonders absently if Naruto could hear it too. It certainly seemed that way. Her cheeks are dyed red as she recalled the words she wanted to say for a long time and how much she truly meant them.

"Hinata," Naruto said, somewhat strained. "I've… wanted to talk to you for a while now." He said slowly, not sure how to go about this. Hinata flushed and looked down, feeling shame creeping up her throat and threatening to swallow her whole.

"Wh-what… are you saying?"

"Argh!" Naruto raked his hands through his hair exaggeratedly, his frustration evident. She blinked, taking a step back as hurt seeped into her core. "Look, I… I just wanted to say… I feel…" He wasn't looking at her. "I feel the same way."

Hinata feels as though a weight has been lifted off of her soul which is quickly followed by an elated feeling that she can't quite manage to overcome in time because Naruto starts flailing about like the hopeless idiot he was.

But the feeling is quickly shattered when a Chuunin—Izumo, she recalls, having done her fair share of missions with the man and his partner—appears. "Sorry to interrupt." He says, his lips thin. "But there's a woman that claims she is here to see you."

A woman?

Hinata feels her heart wrench.

Naruto's brow puckers in confusion, "Did she give a name?"

"No. I considered turning her over to the T&I department but she said that she had important information regarding the Akatsuki and she would only speak to you directly."

Naruto squeezes Hinata's hand once and she realizes he hadn't let go of her. It makes the euphoric feeling return again but only slightly and when he does let go, she feels somewhat disappointed. Naruto obediently follows Izumo into the clearing with Hinata trailing somewhat behind her.

The woman is beautiful with long, flossy emerald terraces—an unusual color, she supposes, but then Shinobi were always known for being eccentric—with a pair of sapphire blue eyes that poked out under messy bangs. She wore a simple black yukata with an obi that matched her hair. Behind her, Kotetsu stood with a hand on her arm, keeping her restrained. Hinata wonders how Naruto knows her…

…but the feeling is abruptly replaced when a sharp, cold aura envelops the clearing. Lee and Chouji both stop wrestling and turn to stare at Naruto in shock. The entire clearing suddenly seems heavy, as though the air itself held an invisible weight.

Naruto's stare is cold—much colder than they've ever seen. His aura is like an embrace—warm and enticing but deadly all the same and for the first time since he returned almost a year and a half ago, they wonder if they truly knew him.

"_What_ are you doing here?" He asked, his voice a hard tenor. The woman stares back at him as though she's unaffected but the scent of fear clings to the air, even to those who don't have an Inuzuka's sense of smell—and beyond that, the scent of raw power.

"I went through a lot of trouble to track you down." The woman says, her azure eyes boring into his. "And this is the welcome I get? I thought we were friends." She smiles blithely and yet, it doesn't really touch her eyes which are as hard as sapphires. Naruto's eyes flicker purple for a bare moment before they return to their cerulean shade, although the slit pupils remain.

He takes a very deliberate step towards her and then another and another until he's close enough to reach out and touch her. "Master Jiraiya is dead." He says clearly, his face bland as though he hadn't mourned him for weeks before the invasion.

"I know." She says. There's an emotion in her eyes now—mourning. "He will be missed."

"Master Jiraiya is dead," He repeats, this time firmer. "So that means that there is nothing stopping me from killing you where you stand."

She licks her lips, as though they are suddenly dry, and looks him dead in the eye. "But you won't."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because I have information about the Akatsuki." She states. "And I have a list of names for you to memorize. As you are Master Jiraiya's only remaining apprentice, I've come to assume that you are going to take over his information network… or am I wrong?"

Naruto stares at her and she shifts her weight from her left leg to her right. "You were correct in your assumptions," He paused delicately. "However," His aura became heavier and it seemed as though there was a chill in the air. "You are an outsider and we are on the verge of war. Your information better be _damn_ good for it to be worth your life." He motions for Izumo and Kotetsu to release her and they do so without question since it is very clear that they do not want that killer intent focused on them. The woman brings her wrists forward and rubs them, momentarily lowering her guard.

That was her mistake.

Naruto is in front of her in a flash, holding her by her throat against the wood paneling that would be used to rebuild the rest of the village. She makes a strangled sound as her back audibly connects with the wood. She claws at his hand but he does not release her—in fact, he lifts her off the ground a bit and that's when they see it. They see fear flashing in her eyes.

"W-wai…" She tries to say but Naruto squeezes a bit and she cuts off with a breathless cry.

"Get one thing very clear." He said, his body almost touching hers. It was to ensure that only he would hear the information she was going to give but his voice was carefully measured so it would carry throughout the clearing without him having to raise it. "You are in _my_ village, on _my_ territory, without official _permission_, therefore you are an _intruder_. I have no reserves about turning you over to the T&I department and I certainly have no reserves about killing you in cold blood." Somehow, they can tell he's lying but the fact that it was said makes their blood freeze nonetheless. Even Ibiki gives a pause. "I'll say this again, in case you missed my point the first time around. You'd better make _damn sure_ that your information is worth your life or you won't be walking out of here. Do you understand?" He loosens his grip just a little, enough for her to speak.

"I… I understand." She rasps. Naruto releases her and she slumps to her knees. She kneels there, him standing over her as she tries to regain her breath. The KI lightens just a bit but still embraces her like a vice. He kneels down so that they are on level with one another.

"Start talking." He orders.

"The Akatsuki has a few new recruits." She says, although to the others it just comes out as a rushed whisper. "One is a former missing-nin from Kirigakure, the younger brother to Hozuki Mangetsu and great-grandson of the first Mizukage. Another is a woman with crimson red hair and sensory abilities. I believe she may be a medic as well. The third is a young man—probably about your age—by the name of Juugo. It is believed that he is the source of the curse mark that Orochimaru favored and the forth, you should know. His name is Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto gives no reaction to the name, doesn't show that Sasuke's outright betrayal cuts him deeper than it already has. "He recently went after the Jinchuuriki of the Eight Tailed Ox. It is unknown if he succeeded or not but since the Jinchuuriki is missing, it is very likely that he has fallen into the Akatsuki's grasp."

Naruto inclines his head almost lovingly, as though he were admiring a lover but at the same time, he looks like a predator ready to strike down his prey. She seems to interpret this for what it is. "There is one more member—he is believed to be Uchiha Madara, a founder of your precious village." His eyes narrow and the KI doesn't need to spike any for the temperature to get colder. "I do not know if this is true or not," She puts in, almost desperately, "as he hides his face behind an orange swirl mask with a hole above his left eye."

"Do you know anything of a creature that calls himself Zetsu?" Naruto asks in what could be passed off as a lightly curious tone. The woman lowers her head, knowing that this is the final straw. If she cannot provide that information, she is as good as dead.

"They are clones, I believe. Clones that use the First Hokage's cells… but not like your friend over there," Her eyes flicker towards Yamato who tenses but Naruto's killer intent is sharp and almost overbearing when it spikes again. "They are organic and will probably turn into trees if they are touched by the positive half of a Biju's chakra. They… may be able to absorb chakra but I don't know any specifics on them."

And just like that, the killing intent cuts off and Naruto his grinning lazily at her, as though he hadn't threatened her very life only moments ago. "Thank you, Namine." He reaches into his weapons pouch and she tenses before he hands her a small pouch of ryo. "That should just about cover your usual fee. Is there anything else I should know?"

The woman, apparently called Namine stands and brushes herself off with as much dignity and disdain as she had entered with. "That should be all." She turns to leave but pauses, "There is… one more thing." She inclines her head back and makes sure her voice carries. "It is rumored… that they stole information that Iwa had gathered on a device that could potentially disable seals… I don't know the legitimacy of that particular bit of information, nor do I care to investigate it but I thought that you, as a Jinchuuriki, would want to know."

"Do you know who could potentially be developing this weapon?" Inoichi asks.

She shakes her head. "No." She replies. "But there is talk that it was being built by Orochimaru so he could end your life prematurely—again, I don't know the legitimacy of this information so it is all just speculation." Her lips curl into a smile as she lowers her head.

"And the list of names?" Naruto asks.

"I've already given the good chuunin the scroll as payment for letting me pass through the gates. You will have to ask them for it." And with that, she vanishes. Naruto looks at Kotetsu who is already taking out the scroll and handing it to them.

He pockets it instead of opening it right away. "Well now," He muses with a wry smile. "It looks like I have work to get done. Call me if you need any help." He locks eyes with Shikamaru who nods before they both vanish.

* * *

"Who was that woman?" Anko asked Sakura who was frowning.

"I don't know… Naruto's never mentioned anyone like that… before." It's obvious that this doesn't set well with her.

"Naruto didn't seem all that happy to see her." Ibiki comments, flipping the page of his magazine.

"Ex-girlfriend?" Kiba asks.

"Not likely." Tenten replies with a snort. "I mean, did you see the way she looked at him? Anko's snakes have warmer gazes."

"Not to mention that killer intent." Shikaku whistles. "I didn't think the kid had a cruel bone in him. I know now that _that_ is not the case." He pauses, inclining his head. "Do you know anything about them, Kakashi?"

"No… but I know who the woman is."

"Who is she?" Neji asked.

"She's an information broker that sells information to the top bidder. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that she and Naruto have done business before." Kakashi turned a page delicately.

"He doesn't seem to like her very much." Sai commented, looking up from his drawing.

"No, you think?" Sakura said sarcastically and then she paused, as though something occurred to her. "What did Naruto want with Shikamaru?"

Shikaku frowned—he wondered about that as well.

* * *

**_Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated. Be sure to tell me what you think in the reviews? And, as always, thanks for reading!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Author's Note:_** After a long day of rushing to get my homework done at the last minute, it feels nice just to kick back, relax and torture someone else's characters for a bit.

Let me know if anything doesn't make sense and I'll make sure to clarify either in the next chapter or I'll go back and explain it better.

* * *

_Fourteen year old Uzumaki Naruto forced himself to run faster until the scenery around him was nothing more than blurred horizontal lines of color. If one had keen enough eyes, they would see a flash of gold here and there as his hair reflected the sun in a way the forest did not. As he ran, drops of blood spattered against the underbrush, leaving a trail for his enemy to follow. He resisted the urge to curse under his breath which was steady as he ran. The last thing he needed right now was for those imbeciles to find him._

_The odds were against him, he knew. He had lost too much blood—the pounding in his temples was testament to that—and his ribs throbbed unusually which indicated either severe bruising or a minor fracture and the people who gave him those wounds were stronger (physically, at least, he was certain they didn't have his stamina), smarter and larger in quantity._

_Like that would stop him._

_He had already taken down two of them, after all—one with a clean strike across the throat, from which he immediately bled out, and the other with a kunai firmly planted in-between his eyes._

_But damn if these bastards were determined._

_Deciding he had no choice, he ran towards a tree that had a rather large base and kicked off of it so that he could propel himself onto the side of another tree. He used his chakra to run until he was crouching on the branches. His head swayed with vertigo and his stomach churned uncomfortably but he forced it all to the back of his mind. He couldn't lose focus now! He had just walked away from Death's Door, he didn't want to return after all that hard work!_

_As the men careened into the clearing, they scanned around, looking for him. He waited for the right moment, the perfect opportunity, before he would drop and—hopefully—eliminate the lot of them. That would get rid of at least one of his problems._

_Swinging his legs over the edge of the branch, Naruto drew in a breath and planted his feet firmly on the back of one of the men's necks, snapping it with a sickening crunch. He barely wasted time in yanking the tanto he carried from its sheath and spreading his arm out as far as it would go before twisting. The blade carved through flesh, disemboweling the first row of victims almost effortlessly. He almost cursed when his vision gave a sickening lurch._

_Something cold pressed against his throat and his spine snapped straight. "Now, now," A female voice drawled. "I think that will be enough, don't you?" Her voice was haughty, arrogant. She kind of reminded him of Ino for a distant moment—but he had to remind himself that Ino wasn't an enemy. Ino wouldn't have tried to have him killed. "Raise your hands and turn around slowly and I won't slit your throat. After that, you will kneel and I will bind you." Naruto raised his hands and turned slowly. His eyes were narrowed in defiance as they lifted to take in the features of his captor._

_It was then that he was met with the striking green hair of Aika Nomine._

* * *

"Naruto!"

Naruto silently sent a prayer up to Kami-sama that he walk away mostly unscathed from this encounter. "Yes, Ino?" He asked, putting up a somewhat strained grin as she latched herself onto his arm and promptly refused to let go. Really, he should have been used to this by now…

"What's this I hear about you and Hinata going out on a _date_?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in an almost perfect imitation of her dad. Naruto snorted under his breath.

"It's not a date." He said flatly. "It's a walk down to the ravine so we can get some _water_."

"Alone."

"Well… yes, alone… but that doesn't make it a date." Naruto admitted, scratching the back of his neck. He winced when his arm gave a rather prominent reminder of the beating he'd taken at the hand of the Akatsuki leader.

"Does it hurt? Let me see! I'll heal it for you." She immediately went into medic mode as she yanked the limb down and ran her hand over it to check it. Naruto hissed when she caught one of the more painful parts. "You still have some hairline fractures…" She murmured. "This might sting a bit." She called on her chakra, pouring it into the bone and, true to her word, it stung up something fierce. "You should take it easy. Let Kiba go down to the ravine instead. You need to rest."

"I can't." Naruto denied. "Besides, it'll heal when I sleep."

"Uh-huh." Ino leveled him with a _look_. "And when do you plan on doing that?"

"When I have an actual _bed_ again." Naruto deadpanned. The cots were itchy and did little for his still-healing body.

It was a true testament to how miffed the Kyuubi was when he refused to heal even the most basic of injuries, instead leaving his host to suffer. '_You know, restricting my movement with injuries may only prove to be counterproductive._' He thought towards the fox.

He could have swore he heard a derisive snort in reply but the shadow that usually lingered whenever he was sure he was going to get a reply had vanished, which meant the fox and retreated deeper into his cage—probably off to sulk.

"Naruto… I'm serious. You should take it easy." Ino said, her brow furrowing. Naruto sighed.

"I know. I'm fine! Honest… it's just hard to sleep with all of this," he waved his hand at the tents. They were clustered in the forest just outside of the village borders while the village itself was being rebuilt. It wasn't a pretty sight, to see the one busy streets of Konoha reduced to nothing more than a crater and rubble.

Naruto sighed. How many people had died again? The last time he'd checked, the number was quickly approaching the three-hundred range…

"Now, now, none of that." Ino said as though he could read his mind. She grabbed his wrist and, quite literally, dragged him over to the pile of wood where everyone had taken to gathering when they had free time or just didn't know what to do next. "Hey, Shikamaru!" Ino crowed, waving rapidly at the shadow user who dragged himself into an upright position with a rather dramatic effort.

"Oh, it's just Ino." He flopped back lazily.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Naruto deadpanned.

"Might as well be." Shikamaru said. Naruto rolled his eyes as the conversation from yesterday evening came to mind.

"—

_"Shikamaru… I know that baa-chan has high expectations for you… and I know that I'm probably not going to help matters any." Naruto began. "…but I need your help."_

_"What do you want me to do?" Shikamaru asked, more than willing to help his old friend and—although he was unsure if Naruto felt the same way—brother in all but blood._

_"I need you to help me manage the spy network that Jiraiya-shisho set up." Naruto said point blank. "It's not a small organization but the money and the information is very valuable. You won't be going to the face-to-face meetings, since pretty much everyone already knows that I intended to take over the information line if something were to happen, but you will be handling the messages."_

_"How will I be doing that?"_

_"There are a number of things you have to know before you can even start but first and foremost, you'll need the seals that will allow you to see the encryption code we use to communicate." Naruto said._

_"Seals?" Shikamaru murmured. "Wait, what do you mean by 'need them'?"_

_"I mean that whenever you decide you're ready, you're going to have a few seals implanted on your arms. They all have a camouflage node so you can easily hide them. I'll show you how to do that later."_

_Shikamaru groaned, "How troublesome."_

—"

Shikamaru had been less than pleased when the sealing process was complete because his arm looked like he had a tattoo sleeve but Naruto assured him that they would only be visible for the first twenty-four hours before they would fade into his skin. All he would have to do after that was channel his chakra underneath the seals and that would make them appear. Until they faded, however, he was keeping them covered by wraps. The official story was that his arm got scraped up while he was looking through the rubble. Only Shikaku and a few choice others seem to know differently, even if they didn't comment on it. He supposed it helped that Shizune was backing the story up.

Ino had tried to badger Shikamaru for details as to what he and Naruto talked about but he had firmly bit his tongue—metaphorically speaking, anyways—and had not said a thing. She was relentless, though. When it became clear that Shikamaru wouldn't talk, she turned her attention to Naruto who had promptly changed the subject… or played dumb. He could do the latter _really_ well.

"Yo." Kakashi said.

"Yo yourself." Shikamaru opened his eye.

"Neji is looking for you." Kakashi said casually to Naruto. "Something about going through the rubble for family photos?"

Naruto groaned. "As if I wasn't sleeping bad enough already." He muttered under his breath. Going through the rubble was fine and dandy and all when they found _only_ pictures… the thing was, though, with destruction on this level, they all knew that they would be finding more than just pictures.

They'd be finding bodies as well.

Naruto felt something hot and almost painful swelling in his throat and threatening to consume him once again. "Easy, Naruto," Kakashi said, a hand resting on his shoulder. Naruto's eyes snapped up and he could see the reflection of red on the metal of Kakashi's hitai-ate. He closed his eyes for a moment and counted backwards from ten. When he opened his eyes again, the ominous red glow had vanished.

"I hate war." He said flatly, knocking Kakashi's hand away and striding past him.

"Almost everyone does." Kakashi murmured but made no attempt to stop his student from leaving. It would take time for him to accept that this was no time for posturing anymore. They had to get serious.

"To arms?" Ino asked quietly.

"To arms." Kakashi confirmed.

* * *

**_Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated. Be sure to tell me what you think in the reviews? And, as always, thanks for reading!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Author's Note:_** I am BRILLIANT! This next segment actually came to me as a plot bunny that I was totally going to use to rewrite the way Sasuke defected (not that I actually ever post any of my Naruto plot bunnies because they die slow and horrible deaths) but then I decided "you know what? Kurama will turn out to be an antagonist if I don't do something soon and this gives him the opening he needs to really shine so what the hell?"

And I know that there should be some bridge-scene that shows Naruto collapsing but I couldn't make it work. I tried, several times, but I couldn't so I'll have to work the kinks out and post it as a flashback next chapter when I do Sakura's POV (because she is one of the main characters, even if she's only gotten a brief "cameo" appearance.

Now then... on with the angst!

* * *

_All he could smell was blood, fear, bile and—strangely enough—water… but it wasn't normal water. This water smelled clean—almost impossibly so._

_He shifted and the sounds of chains rattled in his ears making a piercing pain stab through his head. "You shouldn't move around too much." A male voice drawled across from him. Naruto jerked into an upright position and immediately cursed his lack of thought. The man laughed as though Naruto's pain was amusing to him, "Told ya'."_

_"Who are you?" He asked, his voice wary._

_"Th' name's Mangetsu. And you are?"_

_"Naruto." He said icily. "Where we are?"_

_"We're in the Land of Water, just off the coast of the main island chain."_

_"Wait… are you serious?" Where the hell was the Pervy Sage at? He didn't leave the village just to get captured and interrogated by a backstabbing alliance!_

_"The Mizukage didn't sanction this, if that's what you're thinking." Mangetsu drawled. "We're Konoha's allies."_

_"What makes you think I'm from Konoha?" Naruto asked frostily._

_"For starters, no one outside of Konoha has hair that bright." He motioned with his free hand towards the messy head of sunny blond locks. "And, well, you look a lot like the type Master Jiraiya would take on as his apprentice." There was some sort of inflection in his voice that Naruto couldn't place. What did he mean by that? "Have you heard of the Kaguya Clan?"_

_"Yeah." That Kimimaro bastard had been one of them._

_"I think that the few that remain have banded together and taken us as hostages to use against Master Jiraiya."_

_"How do you know the Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked, his frustration causing him to disregard the mental censor that the old sage had spent months beating into his brain—after he'd been re-taught the basics in chakra control, of course._

_Damn that training had been boring._

_"I'm one of his informants." Mangetsu sounded like he was grinning. He seemed like the kind of person that thought everything in this world existed for his personal amusement._

_And he was also the one they were supposed to go meet._

_Well… fuck if life hadn't thrown him a curveball._

_"So… got any ideas on how we're gon' get out of here, 'ttebayo?" Naruto drawled, his irritation causing his childhood speech patterns to return in full._

_"Not a-one."_

_"Sonuvabitch!"_

_"Now it's my turn to ask questions." Again, his voice reflected the fact that he was grinning. Naruto couldn't see his face so he couldn't tell if it was genuine or not._

_"Shoot."_

_"Were you captured by a chick with freaky green hair?"_

_"Yeah…" He paused. "You wouldn't happen to know her name, would you?"_

_"Her name…" He said slowly. "Is Aika Nomine. She runs the biggest underground information stream on the black market."_

_Naruto ran through every curse in his head but that did little to ease the tension in his shoulders. The whole point of curse words was to say them out loud. Still… it didn't matter who it was that had captured them—what mattered was why._

_Unfortunately, they both seemed to lack a full answer for that… and they would for some time to come, apparently, because it didn't look like either of them were going to escape any time soon._

* * *

Shikamaru's fist curled as the seals that took up almost his whole arm began to tingle uncontrollably, as though his arm had fallen asleep. He grimaced causing his mother and father to pause in their conversation. "Is something wrong, Shikamaru?" Shikaku asked.

"Is it too late to take back what I said about wanting to follow down Naruto's path?" Shikamaru drawled, shaking out the last of the tingles before he rolled up his sleeve to reveal the intricate pattern that seemed to be engraved onto his arm. Yoshino gasped and Shikaku's eyes narrowed down on the pattern.

"That's Master Jiraiya's mark." Shikaku said carefully. Shikamaru would have smirked if he didn't think it would provoke his father.

"Naruto's now." He grunted, biting down on his thumb and smearing the blood over the larger calligraphy that spelled out _message_. There were several patterns like that and they usually changed depending on what it was that was being sent through—hence the tingles. It was the ink rearranging. A scroll appeared with a flash and a puff of smoke. He opened it and scanned it nonchalantly before frowning.

"What is it?" Yoshino asked.

"Naruto's going to have a visitor in… three hours." Shikamaru stood up, grunting as though it took a lot more effort than necessary. It didn't but it was troublesome all the same. His leg still bugged a bit, even if he didn't need the crutch anymore.

"Anyone we know?" Shikaku asked.

"It's signed with a weird paper lantern." Shikamaru said, rolling up the scroll and reinstating the seal. "Naruto will know who it is."

* * *

"—sonuva_bitch_!" Shikamaru winced at hearing Sakura let out a shrill curse which was quickly followed by the splintering of wood. He had to bite back the customary '_what did Naruto do this time_' that he would have asked any other time because, well… he was looking for the person that she was undoubtedly cursing. "I tell him to take it easy—I tell him not to overdue it and what does he do? He fucking _collapses_!"

"Who?"

Sakura whirled around, flinging shuriken that Shikamaru deftly dodged. He raised an eyebrow. "Sorry." She said, running a hand through her hair in a frustrated motion. "It's Naruto. He collapsed earlier today. I think the Kyuubi's chakra caused some serious damage. I gave him the order for bed-rest but…" She trailed off.

"This is Naruto we're talking about. As soon as his cells have regenerated, he's going to be up and running again." Shikamaru said wryly. "Which tent is he in? I have a message for him."

"Same as before. I left him with Ino who is undoubtedly threatening him as we speak."

"Thanks." Shikamaru replied before taking off in that direction. It wasn't an urgent message but he was sure Naruto would like it sooner as opposed to later so while his pace wasn't leisurely, it wasn't exactly rushed either. When he got to the tent, he pushed it aside to see Naruto laying with his back to Ino while she flipped through a magazine. Hinata sat on his other side, a hand resting underneath his.

"Ah, Shikamaru!" Ino beamed, looking up at him. He inclined his head towards Naruto who was lying as though he were asleep and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, him? He said something about needing answers and asked that we not try and wake him."

"Mind if I wait here?" He asked, not really waiting for an answer. "I have a message from one of his contacts and while it's not immediately pressing, it's certainly too troublesome to be left alone."

"We don't mind, do we Hinata?" Ino asked.

"Not at all." She replied politely.

Shikamaru sighed. How troublesome.

* * *

Naruto hated coming to this place. While it didn't smell like a sewer, it did _resemble_ one and that kind of took away from the grandeur of the seal itself. But even so—this wasn't something he could simply _ignore_. This was too dangerous to be left alone.

He turned the corner and was immediately greeted by a large gust of wind that almost knocked him off of his feet. "**_You have a lot of nerve coming in here after what just happened._**"

"You have a lot of nerve talking shit when you tried to kill me!" Naruto snapped before he realized that baiting an ancient demon that could potentially kill him on a moment's notice even though he was hidden behind a seal made by his father _probably_ wasn't a good idea. Naruto blew out a breath and forced his frustration to the side. "Listen…" Naruto frowned. "I know we haven't gotten on very well in the past and we probably won't for the future either… but I need you to retract your chakra from my system."

"**_What?_**" The fox reared back, his eyes narrowed in rage and Naruto knew immediately that he had said the wrong thing.

"I'm not saying you crawl back and shut up. I'm saying that I can't use your chakra anymore." Naruto ran a hand over his face.

"**_And here I thought you enjoyed the power I could offer._**" His voice was biting and had no small about of scathe to it.

"Oh believe me, I do." Naruto deadpanned. "But that's not the point."

"**_Then what, pray tell, is?_**" Naruto weighed his options carefully. On one hand, he was fairly certain that if he said the wrong thing, he'd be losing a very powerful—however reluctant—ally. On the other, the fox could easily use his weakness as a means to an end. "**_Well?_**"

"Hold on, I'm thinking." Naruto replied almost absently as though he were talking to Sasuke (before he defected) and not an ancient demon that could—and would—devour him without a second thought.

"**_Yes and I can tell that that is agonizing for you._**" He drawled with scathing sarcasm.

Naruto shot a withering glare at the demon before he sighed. "Your chakra is killing me." He said point blank. The fox stirred, almost as though he was shocked. "Apparently, for all of his power, the Fourth made a slight miscalculation in the seal. The small amount of chakra that _does_ manage to leak out is purified but when I tap into your power directly, it eats away at my cells which, in turn, caused me to collapse." And hadn't that been a surprise. At least he hadn't been doing anything that could have a potentially lethal backlash. "The only reason I'm not dead yet is because of the accelerated healing factor but if I keep using your power, that accelerated healing factor turns into a weapon that can be used against me."

There was a moment of silence before he replied. "**_And? You expect me just to shut up and stand by while you live your life?_**" His words were laced with an emotion that was very familiar to Naruto—embitterment.

Naruto blinked at him slowly. "I don't expect you to be quiet about anything if that's worth anything." From the bland sneer he got in return, he could tell it wasn't. "What do you _expect_ me to do? Stand by and wither away from a power that's not even mine in the first place?!" Naruto snapped. He had to take a step back and reel in his anger. Losing his temper right now, while he was in front of the very creature that wanted to devour him whole was not a good idea. It made him more susceptible to manipulation.

It was at that moment that he remembered one of Kakashi's lessons on teamwork, about compromising to make a situation work. "Fine. Since I can see you aren't going to do this the easy way, let's make it a compromise."

Whatever the fox had been expecting, that had obviously not been it.

"**_…what do you have in mind?_**"

* * *

**_Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated. Be sure to tell me what you think in the reviews? And, as always, thanks for reading!_**


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